Work has started at Summit Fremaux site in Slidell

Work has begun at the Summit Fremaux site in Slidell, with workers spending Monday clearing the W14 canal in preparation for the canal widening project.

The clearing work started two weeks ago and should take another two weeks, said Earl Price, project manager for Richard Price Contracting, which won the $2.6 million contract for the work.

The actual widening work will begin at that time, followed by the water and sewer line extensions, he said.

Later, the company will build a new sewer lift station at the site, which is slated to house the Summit Fremaux development, a $900 million retail-office-residential complex along Interstate 10 between Fremaux Avenue and Old Spanish Trail.

While the infrastructure work at the site is moving forward, the completion date for the complex has been pushed back at least six months, to September 2010 or later.

Bayer Properties initially hoped to open the Summit Fremaux by the spring of 2010, but the nation's sagging economy and the associated retail slump are causing the postponement.

Plans for a road through the site connecting Fremaux and Old Spanish Trail also remain on track.

Barriere Construction Co. won a nearly $6.6 million contract to build Summit Boulevard, with the money for the project coming from St. Tammany Parish.